Canadian Archives Branch / Direction des archives canadiennes OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0N3 UNITED SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL MG 17, B 1 Finding Aid No. 285 / Instrument de recherche numéro 285 Prepared in 1992 by Patricia Birkett, revised Préparé en 1992 par Patricia Birkett, révisé in 1997 by Patricia Birkett and Muguette en 1997 par Patricia Birkett et Muguette Brady, revised again and distributed in 2001 Brady, révisé encore et distributé en 2001 by Robert Fisher of the Social and Cultural par Robert Fisher de la Section des archives Archives Section. sociales et culturelles. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Fonds Description ............................................................ iii Administrative History.........................................................iii Acquisition History ........................................................... iv Scope and Content.............................................................v Note on Finding Aid .......................................................... vi Microfilm and Container List of the Fonds Finding Aids on Microfilm ......................................................1 Journals Series................................................................3 Fulham Papers Series...........................................................6 Correspondence Series: .........................................................9 Series A: Contemporary copies of early Letters received, 1702-1737 .................10 Series B: Eighteenth Century Correspondence with North America ..................13 Series C: Unbound Manuscripts ..............................................34 Calendars.............................................................35 Originals..............................................................39 Series D: Letters received from Dioceses in Canada ..............................88 Series E: Reports from Missionaries..........................................251 1845-1885 Reports .....................................................252 1900-1951 Reports .....................................................455 Series F: Letters sent (note on absence of copies from this series)...................477 Series G: Copies of Letters read before the Society..............................478 Series X: Miscellaneous ...................................................486 ii UNITED SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL FONDS MG 17, B1 [textual record (chiefly microform)]. 1699-1951. Microfilm, 1700-1889, 1901-1951; 115 reels, A-28 and A-29, A-152 to A-250, and A-1904 to A-1917. Photocopies, 1846-1884, 267 pages, and Transcripts, 1699-1886, 3.35 metres of textual records; volumes 1-17 (researchers must consult them on microfilm reels H-1994 to H-2007). Original version of this finding aid (No. 285) is available on reel C-4497. ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was formed in 1965 by a merger of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (commonly known as the SPG or SPGFP) and the Universities Mission to Central Africa (est. 1837). Of its two constituent predecessors, only the SPG was active in Canada. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was founded in London in 1701 at the instance of the Reverend Dr. Thomas Bray (1656-1730), rector of Sheldon. Bray had already, in 1699, been instrumental in founding the Church of England's Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (see MG17 B9), whose chief purpose was to foster Christian education and the production of Christian literature in Great Britain and its colonies. After visiting Maryland in 1699 as the Bishop of London's commissary, however, Bray was so impressed by the spiritual destitution in the British colonies that he urged the creation of a missionary society to provide clergy to minister to the settlers and to convert the heathen. The project was initiated at a meeting of the SPCK in May 1701 and the Royal Charter of the SPG was obtained on 16 June 1701. Although the later work of the SPG extended to all parts of the British Empire, its first efforts were confined to the east coast of North America. Its work in Canada began in 1703 with the adoption of the Reverend John Jackson, a missionary to Newfoundland, who had already been sent to that island by private subscription. By 1728 it had extended its efforts to Nova Scotia and was operating in Quebec by 1759, New Brunswick by 1769, and Ontario by 1784. iii The Church of England's missionary work in western and northern Canada was actually begun, in 1820, by the Church Missionary Society (see MG17 B2), but within a generation the SPG too was moving westward. In 1851 it sent the Reverend W. Henry Taylor to take charge of the Assiniboia district and thereafter the Society provided substantial assistance to all the western dioceses. It continued to send grants to various areas of Canada until 1940, when the Church of England in Canada resolved to become self-supporting. An early nineteenth century account of the SPG in Canada is available in MG24 J49. The Library of the National Archives of Canada holds copies of the Society's Annual Reports and Sermons, 1701-1844, on seven reels of microfilm (call number ML 405) as well as the Society's Classified Digest of the Records, 1701-1892 (London: 1893), which includes its missionary rolls for each province (BV 2500 A 3). A longer and more detailed historical sketch of the SPG may be found at the beginning of the original finding aid on microfilm reel C-4497. ACQUISITION HISTORY In 1913, the National Archives of Canada began its copying of those records of the SPG that relate to Canada with the transcription of one small excerpt from the first volume of Series B correspondence. Systematic copying in the Society's archives in London only began in 1923, however, when further transcription from the B Series was undertaken. Copying from the D Series followed and continued on a regular basis until 1940. After the Second World War, D.78 was transcribed in 1948 and Box 1/1 of the C Series in 1950. These transcripts were sometimes supplemented by photostats (usually negatives) of printed and graphic items and of one native language manuscript. The National Archives of Canada selected the SPG records to be among the first that it microfilmed, with D.39 on reels A-28 and A-29 being received in 1952. Since the SPG was in the process of rearranging its records, however, filming was temporarily halted at that time. Reels A-152 to A-250 were received in 1955. Except in the case of C. Box 1/1, the microfilm does not include the material that had previously been transcribed. In 1989, some additional missionary reports from the E Series were acquired, on reels A-1904 to A-1917, and added to the fonds. In 1991, all the material that had been transcribed and photocopied from 1913 to 1950, together with the original finding aid, was microfilmed on reels H-1994 to H-2007. The SPG Archives made a number of further changes to the arrangement of its records after the National Archives' original microfilming was completed in 1955, so that the present arrangement of the records in Britain (and on microfilms produced commercially since 1955) does not necessarily agree with that in the transcripts and microfilms created before 1956 by the National Archives of Canada. The USPG transferred the custody of its records in 1986 to Rhodes House Library, Oxford, England. iv SCOPE AND CONTENT The SPG holdings of the National Archives comprise selections relating to British North America from the following series and sub-series: Journals of the Society, 1747-1835 (reels A-152 to A-162), and appendices to the journals. 1840-[1862] (reel A-167) Fulham Papers (letters to the Bishop of London), 1817-1827 (reel A-167). Correspondence: Series A - Contemporary Copies of Early Letters Received, 1702-1737, calendars and indexes only (reels A-163 to A-164). Series B - Eighteenth Century Correspondence with North America, 1699-1713, 1759- 1786, calendars and indexes (reels A-164 to A-166), 1934-1938, and a few photocopies and transcripts of the actual correspondence, 1699-1713, 1759-1785 (which are also available on reels H-1994 to H-1995). Series C - Unbound Manuscripts, 1752-1860 (reels A-169 to A-214), and calendars and indexes that include the American Colonies, 1630-1811 (reel A-166), as well as British North America, 1752-1860 (reels A-167 to A-169). Series D - Letters Received from Dioceses in Canada, 1850-1886 (reels A-28 to A-29, A-215 to A-220 and photocopies and transcripts, which are also available on reels H- 1995 to H-2007). Series E - Reports from Missionaries, 1845-1885, 1901-1951 (on reels A-221 to A-248 and A-1904 to A-1917 respectively). Series G - Copies of Letters Read Before the Society, 1842-1889 (reels A-249 to A- 250). Series X - Miscellaneous (correspondence of the Upper Canada Clergy Society, which includes several missionary journals), 1836-1847 (reel A-250). v NOTE ON THE FINDING AID The present version of textual records Finding Aid No. 285 lists the transcripts, photostats and microfilm selections of the records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel held by the National Archives of Canada. It follows the original SPG reference and volume numbers which are listed in the column on the left hand side of the table. The middle columns provide the contents and inclusive dates of the documents. The columns on the right hand side list the corresponding microfilm reel numbers where the documents and (where applicable) calendars can be found. Where possible,